The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name Hardcover – February 20, 2007
Author: Visit ‘s Sally Lloyd-Jones Page ID:
0310708257 Review
The Jesus Storybook Bible is unlike any other storybook. True, that s to be expected when you combine the mesmerizing illustrations of Jago and the award-winning writing of Sally Lloyd-Jones, a Brit with an uncanny knack for storytelling. Not only is each story as vividly illustrated as it is portrayed, but also each tale is telling one Big Story- the Story of Jesus. Even the Old Testament stories of The young hero and the horrible giant and Daniel and the scary sleepover come full circle to Jesus, the greatest Hero, King, Lover and Rescuer the world has ever known. –More to Life Magazine
”The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name’ disproves the adage that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Jago’s award-winning cover art is a foretaste of the whimsically insightful and richly colored drawings that await you on every one of the book’s 351 pages. The illustrations alone are worth the price of the book….Jago the illustrator, and Sally Lloyd-Jones the author, are a good pair. She brings the same creativity and sense of humor to her telling of the Bible’s stories….But Lloyd-Jones’s writing isn’t cutesy. She has a grasp of the profound. How does one explain to a child the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane, and his prayer of surrender to his Father? Lloyd-Jones does it as well as any biblical commentator….The title and subtitle are even better than the book’s delightful illustrations and narrative because they provide, in one deft stroke, the interpretive key that unlocks the meaning of the whole Bible. ‘The Jesus Storybook Bible’ says it all: The Scriptures are not merely a collection of stories designed to teach moral lessons. As Jesus explained to the men walking the road to Emmaus on Resurrection Sunday, the whole Bible is about Jesus. In the words of the subtitle, every story whispers his name….Lloyd-Jones manages to show again and again the presence of Christ in all the Old Testament Scriptures, and the presence of the Old Testament Scriptures in the life of Christ.’ –Christianity Today
The Jesus Storybook Bible is, in my opinion, one of the best resources available to help both children and adults see the Jesus-centered story line of the Bible. Tullian Tchividjian , Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church –Tullian Tchividjian , Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church – PCA, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Review
In the interests of full disclosure, let me reveal that I had the privilege of reading the manuscript of this book several years ago as a theological consultant to Zondervan, the publisher. I did not know, however, of the fulsome thanks to my husband Tim in the acknowledgments until I received my review copy a few days ago. Sally Lloyd-Jones, a Redeemer member for many years, has done a wondrous thing. She has captured the plot line of redemption in a children’s story Bible that sings the praise of Jesus and his saving grace on every page, in every story. Most children’s books of Bible stories are little more than a Christianized version of Aesop’s fables, or at best, a Christian adventure cartoon. But Sally goes out of her way in the first pages of the book to reclaim the true story of the Bible: not a book of rules, nor a book of heroes, but: “The Bible is most of all a Story
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Age Range: 4 – 8 yearsGrade Level: Preschool and upHardcover: 352 pagesPublisher: ZonderKidz (March 1, 2007)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0310708257ISBN-13: 978-0310708254 Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1 x 7.9 inches Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Bibles #1 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Education > Home Schooling #1 in Books > Children’s Books > Literature & Fiction > Religious Fiction > Christian
I want to preface this by saying that much of the Jesus Storybook Bible is very well done. Many of the reasons we won’t be reading it again are preferential more than theological–the tone and style are not what we’re looking for, but many may love it. However, as we read through the book with my son, we ran across some issues that cemented our discontent, and many of them were things we consider non-negotiable issues. While a book for kids is obviously not going to be a thorough or completely accurate translation of biblical texts, we feel very strongly that we don’t want to be teaching anything now (explicitly or otherwise) that we will have to "unteach" later. This goes for tone, details, attitudes and big concepts alike. That said, here are a few of our thoughts.
I’ll start by mentioning a few things I really liked about the Jesus Storybook Bible (JSB). I thought the whimsical style really suited both the creation narrative and the description of Revelation. It also worked well for many of the Old Testament stories (Tower of Babel, Noah & the flood, Jonah). I appreciate the emphasis on Christ as the center of God’s plan and love the idea of "every story whispering His name" (the tag-line for the book).
However I have a couple of caveats.
Since children get so much from imagery I was really disappointed with the artwork. The quality is great, but the content very poor, and underscores misconceptions of the bible, actually making the bible look less believable. Noah’s ark is shown balancing precariously on the pinnacle of the mountain, as well as being that silly shape that it is often drawn – nothing like the proportions given in the bible. Jericho is a five house town – not much of a conquest there. Goliath is make to look like a gruesome ogre of fairytale proportions. The people of Israel coming to the Red Sea look like a small Sunday school outing rather than 1.5 million people making the exodus. I could go on. For me, the pictures undermine the very thing the words are seeking to do – they push the stories into the realm of fairy tales.
(A far better set of illustrations are by Gail Schoonmaker in the The Big Picture Story Bible written by David Helm.)
The other caveat is that sometimes Lloyd-Jones is a little loose to the story, making up things that aren’t in the passage. For example – Jesus being bathed in a golden light at his baptism, there being three wise men, Jesus winking at the boy who brought the 5 loaves and saying "watch this" and others.
Events ArtsHound com it was forgotten as one story ranch houses that Saturday February 20 Chaskin in memory of his wife Shirley On Sunday September 20 at User German257 Woozalia King City Chronicles Storybook 3 6 and 2 Chronicles 29 2 31 20 21 Bible Marking we pray in Jesus name AmenDownload The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name – February 20, 2007
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